The numbers in brackets refer to their position in the last England ladder - on March 13. Please note once again - this is not an F365 pick but an approximation of Hodgson's thoughts.

1 (1) - Steven GerrardWe're unlikely to do an Alan Hansen and start a sentence with "when Steven Gerrard lifts the World Cup this summer", but we do believe that England have a far greater chance of advancing from the group stage (likely) reaching the semi-finals (optimistic) and winning the whole damn thing (fantastical) with Gerrard on the pitch. Regardless of what happened to Liverpool's unexpected and then faltering title challenge, he has excelled for club and country this season.

2 (2) - Joe HartUp where he belongs.

3 (3) - Wayne Rooney'All we have is a slowing-down Wayne Rooney,' was the verdict of Martin Allen in the Daily Mail this week. He advocates leaving Rooney out of the England squad; his nickname is Mad Dog. Rooney may not have scored against a top-half Premier League side in 2014 and has failed to muster a shot on target in his last three appearances for England, but he is still England's most gifted striker. Which sounds as ridiculous to us as it presumably does to you.

4 (4) - Gary CahillOne of five Englishmen in the PFA Team of the Year after becoming a key ingredient in the meanest defence in the Premier League. Aston Villa sold him for peanuts, the fools.

5 (5) - Phil JagielkaAsk Everton fans if they have missed Phil Jagielka, and they will show you a GIF of Antolin Alcaraz heading the ball into his own net. Cahill and Jagielka are now a double act as established as Morecambe and Wise/Stanger and Storey. Except not as funny/weird.

6 (6) - Daniel SturridgeThe Sturridge juggernaut has slowed to a middle-lane cruise in recent weeks as a combination of injury and fatigue (he's rarely played this much football and certainly never under so much pressure) has taken its toll, but he's still a shoo-in for the England squad. The question remains whether he will start alongside Rooney - either as a No. 9 or as part of a mobile-ish front three - or be forced to wait until Rooney inevitably wilts in the heat.

7 (8) - Glen JohnsonSlightly annoyed that we'll never be proved right that even a fully fit Kyle Walker would not have been in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad. Just not quite as annoyed as we are about Andros Townsend. 'World Cup blows', my arse.

8 (7) - Danny Welbeck"I don't judge players on their last-minute form over two or three games. I'm judging them over two years," said Roy Hodgson last week. Which is lucky for Danny Welbeck, who has not scored in his last nine Manchester United appearances. Hard work and possession-protecting ganglyness are likely to see him preferred to the more dynamic Raheem Sterling against Italy.

9 (12) - Adam LallanaOur friends at WhoScored have put seven little crosses on their little pitch to ilustrate where Lallana has played for Southampton this season. What they can't illustrate in that graphic is that Lallana has been creative, hard-working and refreshingly inventive in all seven of those positions. He's going.

10 (10) - Leighton BainesHe's had his hair cut to look like every other footballer; we like him a little less.

11 (9) - Jack Wilshere"I am not prepared to have a 100 per cent rule that you either play in the last game of the season or you don't go - I am not prepared to do that. I have spoken to Arsene and they have been holding him back because they don't want to push him too early," says Hodgson. John Cross can try and whip up a 'fitness race' all he wants - barring a complete breakdown (never to be ruled out at Arsenal), the boy's going to Brazil.

12 (19) - Raheem Sterling'If there's room for only one pure speedster - and by our reckoning there is - then it should be Sterling over the incredibly limited Andros Townsend,' we said in March. And now we can never say 'we told you so'. Balls.

13 (17) - Ashley ColeThis will be billed as a 'shock' inclusion by the media next week - even after a near-faultless return to the Chelsea side in recent weeks. There's plenty of time for Luke Shaw...after a final World Cup from England's greatest ever left-back. I've said all along that I expect Cole to start against Italy - Hodgson is stil to pick Baines over Cole in a match of any real importance - and recent weeks have only strengthened that view.

14 (13) - Phil JonesTwo years ago we would have enthusiastically predicted that Jones would be playing at centre-half in this World Cup; now we're praying that he's nothing but an unused back-up right-back (and that he stands right behind Joe Hart in the traditional squad photographs).

15 (15) - Ben FosterEngland's No. 2. And that's just fine.

16 (16) - James MilnerUseful. Like a pan.

17 (14) - Frank Lampard'Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will be asked to be the old veterans to help keep Roy Hodgson's World Cup virgin soldiers on the straight and narrow,' wrote Martin Lipton in last week's Daily Mirror. We agree. Except we definitely would never use the phrase 'virgin soldiers'.

18 (18) - Chris SmallingThere's a Tracy Chapman song - 'If not now, then when?' - that I sing when thinking about Chris Smalling. Except 'If not him, then who?'. Does Roy sing it too?

19 (22) - Jordan HendersonLiverpool have really missed him in recent weeks. There was a time when we would have been as unlikely to write those words as anything about 'virgin soldiers'.

20 (20) - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain"From my conversation with Arsene, I don't think there is too much to worry about with Oxlade-Chamberlain either" - words from Hodgson that must have brought a smile to the face of the injured Ox.

21 (26) - Ross Barkley'Needs a rest. Should get it this summer,' is what I wrote in March when Barkley was flagging. Since then he has doubled his goals tally for the season and his all-action display against Manchester City proved he has tricks, if not consistency, up his sleeve. Roberto Martinez can say it better on Barkley than we ever can:

"When you have 23 players to choose from I think Ross is quite unique. I don't think there is another English player that can do what Ross does. Will we expect to win the World Cup because of Ross? No. That is what we need to be clear on. He has the potential to be one of the best midfielders in world football at the age of 25, 26, 27 but not now. If the role in the World Cup is to carry England, that is not Ross. But if it is someone that will be ready to help the team, someone who will be ready mentally and nothing will phase him, yes he has that character. He will be 100 per cent behind the team."

22 (21) - Fraser ForsterWill have far more confidence than the relegated John Ruddy if called upon.

23 (30) - Rickie LambertEven now I'm reluctant to put Lambert in the final 23 as the sneaking suspicion remains that Hodgson will still plump for Andy Carroll. But it's 4-2 to Lambert v Carroll since England's last friendly. Gah. Will I be proved wrong or right if it's Carroll?

24 (11) - Michael Carrick'Rapidly becoming less polarising as his poor performances continue to characterise United's season. It seems his World Cup hopes are over following Roy Hodgson's hint at the weekend,' wrote our own Matthew Stanger this week.

25 (23) - Andy CarrollReserving the right to claim a Liverpool-esque moral victory if Carroll scores against Man City and still makes the squad.

26 (29) - Luke Shaw'Too early. Happy to be corrected on May 13 but simply cannot see him being anything other than back-up this summer.' Nothing's changed except the date.

27 (27) - John RuddyEngland's England's No. 4.

28 (34) - Gareth BarryA better player than Lampard right now - and two years younger - but whoever said life is fair?

29 (25) - Tom Cleverley"Manchester United are one of the few teams that have had a lot of English players. But football players have to accept unfortunately their England careers are tied up with their club careers. If it's not going well in their clubs, and it's not going well for them in their clubs, and other players are doing extremely well in their clubs, it does put your position as a national team player under some sort of threat," said Hodgson. You've had fair warning, Tom.

30 (31) - Steven CaulkerRelegated and still fifth-choice England centre-half. We're not sure if that makes us sad or full of admiration?

31 (33) - Jermain DefoeThe Daily Mirror claimed last week that he will go to Brazil instead of an attacking midfielder like Barkley. It made us gip.

32 (35) - Ashley YoungDon't worry, he's only moved up because of injuries.

33 (39) - Curtis DaviesToo late now, fella.

34 (38) - Aaron LennonIt's around this point when we start wondering why we ever committed to 50 names?

35 (37) - Adam JohnsonThere are still those (mostly in the north-east) who think it's regional bias that he's not more seriously considered.

Readers' Comments

I

t's wrong to be making a joke out of Bender's name at the expense of gay people. It's the kind of childish, uncivilised thing that Football365 would deride and ridicule if it was another media outlet saying. Why is there a need for jokes like this? Does it make your writers feel like men? F365 might suggest that I 'lighten up', but it is genuinely traumatic for people who have been oppressed all their lives to be the butt of jokes, and to be told...

ou can't blame De Gea for wanting to leave, he has enough to do in front of goal as it is as well as taking on the role of Man Utd's version of Derek Acorah in trying to contact and organise a defence that isn't there.